Charlie Cox
Charles Cox}} | birth_place = London, England, UK | alma_mater = Bristol Old Vic Theatre School | occupation = Actor | years_active = 2002–present | spouse = | children = 1 }} Charlie Thomas CoxBirths, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.; at ancestry.com (born 15 December 1982) is an English actor known for his roles as Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Daredevil (2015–2018) and The Defenders (2017), Tristan Thorn in Stardust (2007), Jonathan Hellyer Jones in The Theory of Everything (2014), and Owen Sleater in the second and third seasons of HBO's Boardwalk Empire (2011–2012). Early life Charlie Thomas Cox, the youngest of five children, was born in London, England, and brought up in East Sussex. He is the son of Patricia (née Harley) and Andrew Frederick Seaforth Cox, who is a publisher. Citing He has one brother, Toby (born 1974), and three half-siblings from his father's first marriage: Emma, Zoe and Oliver. Cox was raised Roman Catholic and was educated at two independent schools, Ashdown House School in the village of Forest Row in East Sussex and Sherborne School in the market town of Sherborne in Dorset. Growing up, Cox did not consider a career in acting and only seriously considered it during his last few years of schooling. After graduating Sherborne in 2001, he moved to London and began training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol the following year. Career Early career (2002–2007) Cox was cast in his first significant professional role at age eighteen in the psychological thriller Dot the i, released in 2003. Following filming, he enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In the summer following his first year of study, Cox auditioned and was cast as Lorenzo in the 2004 Al Pacino-vehicle''The Merchant of Venice, breaking the school's policy of not allowing students to audition for outside productions. He eventually decided to not return to drama school and continued working, appearing in guest spots on TV and supporting roles in movies like the 2005 historical drama ''Casanova and the 2006 BBC sci-fi film A for Andromeda. Prominence in television and film (2007–2015) Cox's breakout role was as the main protagonist, Tristan Thorn, in the 2007 fantasy film Stardust which he starred in opposite Claire Danes. The film was successful with both critics and audiences globally and introduced Cox to a wider audience. He made his West End debut the following year in Harold Pinter's The Lover/The Collection at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The production began previews on January 15, 2018 and opened on January 29. Review Theatre|last=Dowell|first=Ben|website=The Stage|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-15}} He was next seen in the 2008 film ''Stone of Destiny'', in which he played Ian Hamilton, and the 2009 historical drama Glorious 39, both of which were widely released in the United Kingdom. In 2010, he played the title role in Kleist's The Prince of Homburg at the Donmar Warehouse in London. In September of that year, he played the closeted gay Duke of Crowborough in the first episode of the ITV drama series Downton Abbey. In 2011, Cox played the part of St. Josemaría Escrivá in the Roland Joffé film There Be Dragons and appeared as Ishmael in Encore's Moby Dick miniseries. Also in 2011, Cox signed on to play a recurring role in the second season of the Martin Scorsese-produced HBO original series Boardwalk Empire as Owen Sleater, an Irish enforcer with ties to the IRA. His character became a regular for the series' third season, which was broadcast in September 2012. He received a Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the ensemble of the show in 2011 in addition to another nomination the following year. In 2013, he starred in the independent film Hello Carter and in the BBC Cold War thriller Legacy. He was cast in a lead role in two separate CBS TV pilots during this year, a political drama titled The Ordained and an untitled Wall Street show. Neither was ordered to series. Cox appeared in a supporting role in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything, playing Jonathan Hellyer Jones, the second husband of Jane Hawking. Daredevil (2015–2018) Cox portrayed Matt Murdock in Marvel's Daredevil TV series as well as the 2017 team-up miniseries event The Defenders, produced and released through Netflix. His performance was praised and given a Helen Keller Achievement Award for his role by the American Foundation for the Blind. The show ran for three seasons and was produced over four years, concluding in late 2018. Cox has said that, given the opportunity, he would be interested in reprising the role of Matt Murdock in a future project. Between filming seasons of Daredevil, Cox made his New York theater debut co-starring in the off-Broadway production of Incognito at the Manhattan Theatre Club. He also acted opposite Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone and others in the 2018 film King of Thieves, based on the true story of the 2015 Hatton Garden jewelry heist in London; the film reunites him with James Marsh, who directed him in 2014's The Theory of Everything. Post-''Daredevil'' (2018–present) After Daredevil surprisingly ended, Cox took the opportunity to star opposite Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton in the West End production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal which opened on March 14, 2019 and closed on June 8, 2019. |website=www.pinteratthepinter.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-01-11}} Cox was sought for the role by director Jaime Lloyd who had previously directed Cox in the 2008 production of the Pinter play The Lover and The Collection. The play transferred to Broadway with the original cast for a seventeen-week limited engagement, beginning previews on August 14, 2019. Also during this period, Cox took part in some of his friend's projects; in late 2018, acted in the short film The Knot, directed by Daredevil and The Defenders script supervisor Rebecca Schwab and appeared in a 2019 episode of Daredevil costar Deborah Ann Woll's Dungeons and Dragons internet show Relics and Rarities. Geek and Sundry|website=geekandsundry.com|access-date=2019-08-15}} In late 2017, it was announced that Cox had joined the cast of Stripped, a thriller produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura who also produced Cox's early breakout film Stardust. The film has remained in pre-production since this time. Personal life In September 2018, Cox married Marvel Television producer Samantha Thomas. The couple have a daughter, born in 2016. The family lives together in Connecticut. Previously, Cox has lived in New York City, Los Angeles, and in the Chelsea and Highbury neighborhoods of London. Cox is a big football fan and holds season tickets to Arsenal F.C. Filmography Film Television Stage Awards and nominations References External links * *Charlie Cox at the Internet Broadway Database *Charlie Cox at the Internet Off-Broadway Database *Charlie Cox at the UK Theatre Database Category:1982 births Category:21st-century English actors Category:Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:English Roman Catholics Category:Living people Category:Actors from London Category:People educated at Ashdown House Category:People educated at Sherborne School